<RANT>
Okay, so did anyone watch Frasier last night? I just started watching it on the TiVo and Bill Gates (the real Bill Gates) shows up in person as a ``guest'' on Frasier's talk show and he starts taking calls that are like tech support, except they're really formulated to ``show off'' how ``good'' Windows XP is. The entire first act is like a freaking ad for XP -- it's way beyond simple product placement. And Bill's palling around with the office doofus Trekkie nerd, trying to make him look like this loveable milquetoast. I can't tell you how much this pisses me off. I mean, are so many people skipping over the commercials with the TiVo now that they need to actually put them in the program itself? And do we really need the social propaganda on sitcoms? Is it any surprise that this shows up on an (MS)NBC program?
</RANT>

<ANCILLARY RANT>
And speaking of software product placements, has anyone else noticed all the odd places that Computer Associates products are popping up on NBC? Like in the boss's window on Just Shoot Me? Or beside the sign-in desk computer monitors on ER? And not just one at a time -- like a whole stack of different ones. These are products that cost thousands of dollars, wouldn't be anywhere other than an IT guy's office, and have absolutely no relevance to wherever they're placed.
</ANCILLARY RANT>

Sorry.